This evening I purchased an ebook from Amazon for $11.99 USD and was charged $0.96 sales tax. We normally do pay brick and mortar stores a 8% sales tax in Arlington, Texas, but I've never been charged sales tax by Amazon before. They did not even charge sales tax on the Kindle WiFi I pre-ordered. As far as I know their is no brick and mortar Amazon store in Texas, therefore they should not be charging sales tax for internet purchases.

BTW, Sony can has to charge sales tax on books because they have brick and mortar stores in Texas.

I thought tax was charged based on the state you have the item shipped to. I have a military address so I never pay any when I order things for myself, but when I have something shipped to my sister in Washington they charge 8.xx%, whatever it is now.

Also sometimes for my FPO box I have to put the state as California. In that case I get charged California sales tax.

Amazon has always charged sales tax in some places, but with the introduction of the "agency model" demanded by the publishers, Amazon has to collect the tax in any state where the publisher has a presence. You will find that some ebooks have the tax charged and some don't, depending on which publisher.

The laws may have changed, but it used to be you were charged sales tax for internet purchases only if the company from which you made the purchase had a physical presence in your shipping state. Washington state would definitely count toward a tax from Amazon because Amazon ihas a physical presence in Seattle. I'm not sure about California.

In the past couple of months I've purchased two Kindles and numerous ebooks, and not once was I charged sales tax--thankfully. The ebook purchase tonight was the first time. I wonder if the publisher of the book matters?

[edit]I must have posted the same time as JMikeD. His post seems to answer my publisher location question.[/edit]

I emailed Amazon about this very issue a couple weeks ago when I saw sales tax on my ebook purchase for the very first time. I received the following answer:Date: Jul 13, 2010 5:07 PM
Hello,

Recently, several publishers modified their relationship with Amazon to a business model whereby the publisher, not Amazon, sells the Kindle book. Kindle books sold by the publisher are subject to sales tax based on the publisher’s state tax reporting obligations and the taxability of digital books in those states.

As a result, sales tax for Kindle books sold by the publisher may differ from the sales tax to which you’ve been accustomed for Kindle books. Kindle books sold by Amazon Digital Services, Inc. are subject to sales tax in Kentucky and Washington State.

You can find additional information about sellers and states that collect sales tax in our Help pages here:

I suspect Amazon started collecting sales tax when they were told they would go to jail if they didn't. No business and no individual voluntarily pays or collects taxes. Oh, I know some politicians say paying taxes is patriotic and then they register their yacht in another state to...avoid taxes.

There is the additional complication of complicated state tax rules. I moved my domicile to Texas, and was surprised to learn that I was charged sales tax on my prepaid mobile phone minute purchases. These are not taxed in California. I am also taxed on application purchases from Apple's App Store for application downloads to my Ipod Touch.

The taxability of prepaid phone cards is specifically addressed in Texas Tax Code Sections 151.009 and 151.01032. Prepaid phone cards, whether landline, cellular, or rechargeable, are considered tangible personal property and are subject to Texas state and local sales and use tax at the time of purchase. “Telephone prepaid calling card" means a card or other item, including an access code, that represents the right to make one or more
telephone calls for which payment is made in incremental amounts and before the call is initiated. The term "telephone prepaid calling card" does not include a card sold by mechanical means for consideration of one dollar or less.”

In general, sales of prepaid telephone debit cards are not subject to tax (see exception below). You are considered to be selling a future telephone service rather than selling tangible personal property. Exception. If you sell a prepaid telephone card for its value as a collectible item rather than for future telephone service, the sale is subject to tax. For example, if you sell an expired card with a picture of a famous person or “classic” automobile, you are selling a collectible item, and the sale is subject to tax.

There is the additional complication of complicated state tax rules. I moved my domicile to Texas, and was surprised to learn that I was charged sales tax on my prepaid mobile phone minute purchases. These are not taxed in California. I am also taxed on application purchases from Apple's App Store for application downloads to my Ipod Touch.

Welcome to HELL, err...I mean Texas. It just feels as hot as Hell this time of year!

Texas doesn't have a state income tax, but we manage to get taxed on just about everything else! I guess they have to make up for the lack of an income tax. As a native Texas I can tell you that historically the Texas legislature has not cared for the people of Texas as much as it has looked out for big industries like oil, cotton, and cattle, and more recently the mega phone companies. Welcome to high taxes, poor quality schools, crooked politicians, and tele-evangelists with their hands on your wallet! As yes that is probably a gun in their pocket as opposed to their being happy to see you...